# A vegetarian unknowingly eats meat... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 15, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556 "2012-01-15T00:59:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/21 "2012-01-15T07:32:39Z")
Invite your friend to a BBQ you plan to have next week by saying, “I thought you’d like to come since you’re no longer a vegetarian.” ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/22 "2012-01-15T07:32:50Z")
I’m vegetarian and I’d like to be informed, mainly so I would stop eating it and be more aware of the restaurant next time. Plus, whoever tells me gets free sweet ‘n’ sour chicken. Win-win, right? > [@Dereknocue67](#): > > Invite your friend to a BBQ you plan to have next week by saying, “I thought you’d like to come since you’re no longer a vegetarian.” Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/23 "2012-01-15T07:54:22Z")
It’s not like you have to make a big deal. All you have to do is say, “Um, actually, that had chicken in it.” That’s it. I know I’d want to be told. It’s just being polite. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/24 "2012-01-15T11:15:55Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > Please don’t tell her. All it would accomplish is to give her an excuse to pretend to be violently ill so she could bore people with her stupid story of “the one time I ate meat” for the next 20 years. This. I had a roomie that got into my leftovers of BBQ rabbit thinking it was chicken. 3 days later when I asked where my BBQ rabbit was, she got ill because it was bunny.:rolleyes: Up until that time she apparently had thought it quite tasty. :rolleyes: On the other hand, it kept her off my leftovers when I went away for the weekend:D ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/25 "2012-01-15T14:41:29Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I’m vegetarian and I’d like to be informed, mainly so I would stop eating it and be more aware of the restaurant next time. Plus, whoever tells me gets free sweet ‘n’ sour chicken. Win-win, right? Exactly. I suppose if your GF were a hysterical person who would retell the story for 20 years then … actually, I’d be kinda handy to find out she was that type of person. Never met anyone like that, though; they only seem to exist in people’s imaginations. ---
**Author:** ![Dublin11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Dublin11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dublin11)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/26 "2012-01-15T14:49:04Z")
If the premise is that we’d both eaten it and I thought it was chicken and she thought it was TVP I would mention in passing that I _thought_ it was chicken. After all, who’s to say I’m right? I have no more idea of what TVP tastes like than this alleged vegetarian who doesn’t know what chicken tastes like. But yup, I would mention it to her. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/27 "2012-01-15T15:43:10Z")
> [@Student\_Driver](#): > > I’m a vegetarian and I’d want to be told. Why? So I could call the restaurant and demand a refund and/or replacement! > > Beyond that specific situation, though, I’d like to be told… that way, at the least, I can _stop_ eating whatever it is I’m eating, instead of obliviously shoving more in my face. > > ETA: similarly, my friend prefers real Coca-Cola and occasionally gets served diet. He doesn’t think the taste is right, asks me to try it, I realize it’s diet… what am I supposed to do, shut up and let him drink his crappy drink, or let him know so that he can be served what he asked for? I agree in a situation like this. But the situation the OP described was different. The vegetarian had already decided the meal didn’t taste right and had given it away. So she wasn’t going to eat any more chicken than what she had already eaten. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/28 "2012-01-15T15:49:51Z")
Not with an SO, but with a cow-orker from India, I had this happen once. We were working in Germany, was vegetarian and didn’t speak German. He would kind of drive me nuts asking what everything was. One day he somehow got ahead of me in the cafeteria line and got himself a nice big bowl of beef consomme. When I got to the table he had already downed half and was going on and on about how delicious it was. I would have told him it was beef beforehand, but I figured now why spoil it for him and give him a bad conscience. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/29 "2012-01-15T15:54:18Z")
She said she didn’t like the dish; maybe it would be useful to suggest a reason why she didn’t like it! And, as noted, she could complain to the restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/30 "2012-01-15T15:55:54Z")
I’m a vegetarian. I’d want to know so that I would know to avoid the place in the future or at least tell them to be more careful (if they can make a mistake like that, who knows if they might make a more serious mistake like serving a dish with an allergen to someone who is severely allergic). I can believe that some veggies feel ill after eating meat for psychological reasons. I gradually just kind of drifted away from eating meat and noticed that the less meat I ate, the more disgusting it started to seem to me. So, yeah, I can see how someone might feel so GROSSED OUT by meat that they would feel physically ill, just like some people would probably be so grossed out by eating chocolate covered crickets that they might start vomiting. However, I do think that there is a physical aspect to it too for some. When this was discussed [over at snopes](http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=38546) some people suggested that because most vegetarians are lower fat than meat based diets, that might be part of why veggies who suddenly eat a greasy hamburger or something might react badly to it. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/31 "2012-01-15T17:26:42Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > This. > > I had a roomie that got into my leftovers of BBQ rabbit thinking it was chicken. 3 days later when I asked where my BBQ rabbit was, she got ill because it was bunny.:rolleyes: Up until that time she apparently had thought it quite tasty. :rolleyes: > > On the other hand, it kept her off my leftovers when I went away for the weekend:D I’m sure there are plenty of foods with HFCS in them that you would find tasty, too. ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/32 "2012-01-15T18:14:11Z")
I would have asked my SO a long time ago if he would want to be told. For cultural reasons, my husband doesn’t eat pork. He doesn’t tend to read food labels, I do. I try to warn him beforehand if a food item contains or might contain pork but occasionally, something escapes our notice. He gets grossed out, but doesn’t have fits about it. I voted “Other” because IMO, if you (generic “you”) care enough about a person to respect their dietary choices, then you should ask them how they want to handle being exposed to something they don’t want to or cannot eat. This applies especially to when you are living with that person. ---
**Author:** ![IntelliQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e99b99/32.png) [@IntelliQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IntelliQ)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/33 "2012-01-15T18:30:37Z")
Wait till she’s digested it, then tell her. 😃 I knew a girl once who wouldnt eat anything if it even accidentally touched meat during the cooking process or when it was served. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/34 "2012-01-15T18:59:17Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I’m vegetarian and I’d like to be informed, mainly so I would stop eating it and be more aware of the restaurant next time. Plus, whoever tells me gets free sweet ‘n’ sour chicken. Win-win, right? Except that, in the OP’s scenario, you’ve already finished and set the dish aside for the other person because you didn’t like it. I’m going to have to go with “Other”, too. Based partly on what I know of the other person and how they’re likely to react, but also on \*why \*they are a vegetarian. Are they veg because they’re in end stage renal failure and going for dialysis twice a week? Then maybe they should know, in case the extra protein load affects their dialysis schedule. Are they veg for moral but not religious reasons or because “meat is icky”? Then I’d probably not tell, 'cause what’s done is done and there’s nothing to do now but freak out about it. Veg for religious reasons, I’d probably tell, because there may be some sort of attonement/cleansing that they need to do. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/35 "2012-01-15T20:21:30Z")
> [@IntelliQ](#): > > Wait till she’s digested it, then tell her. 😃 Better yet, wait a couple of days and then ask whether she felt OK after the meal before telling her. “Yeah, why?” “Because it had meat in it.” “Oh NO… I mean I DID feel kind of sick afterward, actually… I still have a headache and haven’t been able to sleep. And I broke out in hives… I KNEW my body was telling me I’d ingested some kind of toxin! Good thing I’ve got a colonic scheduled…” ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/36 "2012-01-15T22:17:46Z")
Depends on the person. If they’re vegetarian for medical reasons or something, they probably need to know. If they’re vegetarian for religious reasons and need to do some specific cleansing or something, they need to know. If its harmless for them, but they’d really really freak out, they may be better off not knowing. If they’re the sort of person who would prefer to complain to the restaurant or avoid it in future, they should probably know. Etc. Absolutely, absolute, don’t hide it from them unless you know for sure in advance that’s what they’d want. That’s really insulting – for most vegetarians it would remind them of horror stories about deliberately tricking people into eating meat (if you think that wouldn’t matter, imagine how you’d feel if someone from a different culture tricked you into eating dog, or monkey, or a pet and said “ha, ha, your culture’s so stupid you think there’s something wrong with that, well, I just proved you wrong, didn’t I”). But if you know they can live with an occasional mistake, there’s not necessarily any reason to bring it up. For most people, if you’re going out, you should really KNOW what they’d want you to do, and do that. FWIW, my SO and I are both vegetarian, and I think we’d both be in the “meh, not sure, sort of want to know, but don’t want to dwell on it” camp. We’ve certainly eaten meat by accident before, and I was mildly put off, but didn’t feel defiled for life or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/37 "2012-01-16T05:17:36Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Better yet, wait a couple of days and then ask whether she felt OK after the meal before telling her. > > “Yeah, why?” > > “Because it had meat in it.” Then, proceed to point at her and loudly exclaim: “Ha-HAH! Not so vegetarian now, are you?” After that, laugh in her face, take your underwear off and place them on your head, run around the room making clucking noises, pretending to be a chicken (for added effect, alternate this with placing your hands by your head and pointing your index fingers upwards, in order to resemble a cow, while making “moo” noises), then flop over on the floor pretending to be dead. Laugh some more, whilst rolling around. Hey, it’s what I always do. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/38 "2012-01-16T05:23:45Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Your SO is a vegetarian, Already an implausible scenario for me. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/39 "2012-01-16T07:00:27Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Then, proceed to point at her and loudly exclaim: “Ha-HAH! Not so vegetarian now, are you?” After that, laugh in her face, take your underwear off and place them on your head, run around the room making clucking noises, pretending to be a chicken (for added effect, alternate this with placing your hands by your head and pointing your index fingers upwards, in order to resemble a cow, while making “moo” noises), then flop over on the floor pretending to be dead. Laugh some more, whilst rolling around. > > Hey, it’s what I always do. Yep and after you’ve finished with that tell your parents to look out for the story on your murder in tomorrow’s paper 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556/40 "2012-01-16T07:02:30Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > Depends on the person. If they’re vegetarian for medical reasons or something, they probably need to know. **If they’re vegetarian for religious reasons and need to do some specific cleansing or something, they need to know.** If its harmless for them, but they’d really really freak out, they may be better off not knowing. If they’re the sort of person who would prefer to complain to the restaurant or avoid it in future, they should probably know. Etc. This might mark me as an arsehole, but if they don’t eat meat for religious reasons - that would be all the more reason I would NOT tell them. To my mind, there is no need for them to be beating themselves up over an honest mistake over what some stupid god being says they can or cannot eat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-vegetarian-unknowingly-eats-meat/609556.md?page=3)